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Valencia Street Circuit
This article relates to the street circuit which hosted the European Grand Prix from 2008 to 2012. It is not to be confused with the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also in Valencia, which has hosted testing events in the past. Valencia Street Circuit |image= |location= Valencia, Spain |length= 5.419 |turns= 25 |record= 1:38.683 ( Timo Glock, , 2009) |firstgp= 2008 European Grand Prix |lastgp= 2012 European Grand Prix}} The Valencia Street Circuit (Valencian: Circuit Urbà de València, Spanish: Circuito Urbano de Valencia) is a street circuit in Valencia, Spain, which hosted the European Grand Prix from to and was due to host the Spanish Grand Prix alongside the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona from -onwards (hosting the event in even-numbered years). However, due to vandalism and lack of maintenance to the track, this arrangement will no longer take place and all forthcoming Spanish Grands Prix will take place at Barcelona. The last event to be held at this circuit was the 2012 European Grand Prix. Circuit History Felipe Massa won the first race at the circuit in 2008, starting from pole position. It was also Massa's 100th race. Rubens Barrichello won the second edition in 2009, after overcoming the s of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. The 2010 race was won by Sebastian Vettel. Vettel won easily, with only Hamilton putting up any resistance after Kamui Kobayashi held up the majority of field after an accident forced out the safety car. That accident involved Mark Webber and Kovalainen. Webber attempted to pass the driver after an early pitstop, but misjudged Kovalainen's braking and positioning for the next corner and flew straight over the top of him, flipping in mid-air, bouncing and finally landing on his wheels. Neither driver was hurt. In 2011, Vettel won the race once again from pole. No drivers retired in the race, setting a record for most finishers in a race. The final race held as the European Grand Prix at Valencia, the 2012 European Grand Prix, was one of the most exciting races of the season. Fernando Alonso won from 11th on the grid, while polesitter Vettel retired with an alternator failure. Kimi Räikkönen joined him on the podium, after overtaking Hamilton, who later collided with Pastor Maldonado. Michael Schumacher scored the first podium of his comeback here, coming from 11th with less than 15 laps to go. In 2013 it was reported that thieves have stripped everything of value from the circuit buildings, and the track area resembles a ghost town. Circuit Layout The circuit has only had one layout, a tight and twisty 25-corner track with few true straights. The track travels over a 140-metre (460 ft) swing bridge, which is welded together for the race, as one of its main features. Event history The following is a list of Formula One World Championship events held at the Valencia Street Circuit: Notes Category:Circuits Category:Circuits that Débuted in 2008 Category:European Grand Prix Category:Circuits in Spain Category:Formula One races in Spain Category:Temporary street circuits